Command Decisions: Langsdorff and the Battle of the River Plate

David Miller

• Publisher: Pen & Sword Maritime
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781473822344
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

This compelling new study of the Battle of the River Plate concentrates on Kapitn zur See Hans Langsdorff, the commander of the German pocket battleship Graf Spee it is written from his point of view. The story of his mission at the start of the Second World War to prey on merchant shipping is graphically retold, and Langsdorffs command decisions are the primary focus of David Millers gripping narrative. He considers in vivid detail the factors Langsdorff had to consider as he assessed the situation of his ship and choose his course of action. He describes the intelligence Langsdorff received and his knowledge of the position and strength of the forces of the Royal Navy that were arrayed against him. Langsdorffs interpretation of his mission and the tense calculations he had to make in order to carry it out are the essential elements of this dramatic story.Langsdorff, operating alone and thousands of miles away from home and with no prospect of support, had to grapple with the enormous burden of a lone command. He made grave mistakes, and these are ruthlessly exposed. But this fascinating re-examination of his actions and his leadership does nothing to diminish his reputation as a brave and honourable officer.

PART I

The Historical Background – German Surface Raiders in the First World War

CHAPTER 1

The First World War

Prior to the outbreak of the First World War the German Admiralstab (Naval Staff) made detailed plans for commerce raiding against the British on a global scale. On the outbreak of war in August 1914 there was a small number of warships, scattered around Germany’s imperial possessions, totalling seven cruisers and fourteen smaller vessels (see table).

German Warships Overseas at Outbreak of the First World War

Two of the warships were heavy cruisers and five Kleine Kreuzer (small/light cruisers). Even the light cruisers were adequate for halting and, if necessary, sinking enemy merchant ships, and might even hold their own against a like number of enemy cruisers, but were no match for battlecruisers or battleships. They were reasonably fast and had a good range, but all were coal-fired and needed a regular resupply of good quality coal, as well as rations and water for the crew.² Of these ships, three would be sunk by the end of 1914, and one in March 1915 while the last would be scuttled in July 1915, after which the German Navy had no major surface warships in distant waters for the remainder of the war.

Vice Admiral Maximilian Graf von Spee (1861–1914) took command of the Imperial German Navy’s Ostasiengeschwader (East Asia Squadron) in 1912 with his headquarters at the German concessionary port and naval base of Tsingtau.³ His peacetime mission was to provide a German ‘naval presence’ in the Pacific and to support the recently acquired, but scattered, German possessions. He was also required to prepare for war and, if it came, to destroy Allied merchant shipping. In line with normal German practice, he was given complete responsibility, free from interference by Berlin; indeed, the home government’s attitude was not if Spee’s squadron might be destroyed, but when. At this point Spee’s squadron comprised two heavy cruisers, Scharnhorst (flag) and Gneisenau; two light cruisers, Leipzig and Nürnberg, and one auxiliary, Titania.

New Zealand forces took Samoa without a fight on 29 August 1914, while the Japanese besieged Tsingtau from September until the Germans surrendered on 7 November 1914 and, with the latter’s fall, Spee had no firm base remaining in the Pacific area. Spee had ordered his ships to assemble in the Caroline Islands but, once there, he found that wireless communications were so poor that he had to send Nürnberg to Hawaii to obtain the latest news, which it did, rejoining the squadron at Christmas Island. Hearing of the occupation of Samoa, Spee took Scharnhorst and Gneisenau to that island but decided that a counter-attack would achieve nothing in view of Allied naval supremacy, so he went to Papeete where his ships bombarded the French colony (22 September) and then sailed for South America. His aim at this point was to attack British and French trade, then round Cape Horn, attack the British coaling station at Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands, and then return to Germany.

Spee’s squadron coaled at Más Afuera, where they were joined by the cruiser Dresden, from the Caribbean. The slow and vulnerable Titania was then scuttled and Spee set off for the Chilean coast. Meanwhile, the Allies had been alerted to Spee’s whereabouts by the shelling of Papeete and the British Admiralty ordered Vice Admiral Cradock to intercept him before any further damage was done.

Spee and Cradock met, more or less by chance, on 1 November off the Chilean port of Coronel. The British ships were elderly, slow and crewed in the main by reservists, and were outfought by the Germans, who sank two British cruisers, Good Hope and Monmouth, without loss to themselves. Spee then proceeded around Cape Horn en route for home, but intending to call on the Falkland Islands on the way.

Spee knew well that the British would react quickly and violently, but nevertheless was taken completely by surprise when he approached the Falkland Islands on 8 December to discover that substantial reinforcements had already arrived. Two battlecruisers, Inflexible and Invincible, were there, together with five cruisers; three heavy, Carnarvon, Cornwall, Kent, and two light, Bristol and Glasgow. All immediately sailed to meet the approaching Germans and Spee, recognising that he was totally outgunned by the two battlecruisers, each eight 12-inch (305mm) main guns, turned and attempted to escape. All but one of Spee’s ships were sunk that day, and the one that got away, Dresden, was found three months later and, being trapped, was scuttled by her crew (14 March 1915).

Individual Ships

Warships

Scharnhorst, Gneisenau

Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were large ‘armoured cruisers’, sisterships, both completed in 1908. They were neither sufficiently well-armed nor fast enough for the High Sea Fleet, but were ideal for colonial duties, being deployed to the German treaty port of Tsingtau in 1911. In 1914 they were the heavyweight members of the East Asia Squadron. Neither of them conducted any commerce raiding operations as such, but both took part in the Battle of Coronel and were then sunk in the Battle of the Falkland Islands.

Dresden

Dresden completed a tour of duty in the Caribbean in late July 1914 and, having been replaced by another cruiser, Karlsruhe, on 31 July, set out to return to Germany. As soon as war was declared, however, the captain followed mobilisation orders and altered course, heading down the coast of South America in order to join von Spee’s East Asia Squadron in the Pacific.

During her career as a commerce raider, Dresden claimed four victims, totalling 12,933 tons. On 6 August the raider stopped three British merchantmen, all in ballast, but after destroying their radio apparatus, let them go and, on 21 August, stopped another British ship, Siamese Prince, but let her go too. The four ships sunk were: Hyades (3,325grt); Holmwood (4,223t); North Wales (3,691t); and Conway Castle (1,694grt). Not a single person was killed and all were sent ashore, either on neutral ships or on German auxiliaries. Prior to joining von Spee, Dresden coaled on 8 August, 13 August, 19–22 August and 31 August.

Dresden remained with von Spee for the Battle of Coronel (1 November 1914) and was the sole German survivor of the Battle of the Falkland Islands (8 December 1914). The ship then returned to the Pacific only to be trapped at the Chilean island of Más Afuera by British cruisers Glasgow and Kent on 15 March 1915, but was scuttled to pre-empt destruction by the British.

Emden

Emden was in Asian waters from 1909 onwards and when war broke out was station ship in the German concessionary port of Tsingtau. Emden sailed immediately and began a commerce raiding voyage in the Indian Ocean which lasted three months, during which eighteen merchantmen were sunk and three captured, and used three colliers. Emden entered and bombarded two British ports – Madras (22 September) and Penang (28 October) – and in the latter sank two warships: a Russian cruiser, Zhemchug, and a French destroyer, Mousquet. All this caused immense disruption to Allied merchant shipping and tied down many Allied warships. In addition, the captain, von Müller, established a sound reputation for ‘correct’ behaviour: not one person from the merchant ships captured was killed; once taken captive they were well treated, and were repatriated as soon as arrangements could be made. Neutral ships were also treated as such. Emden was eventually caught by HMAS Sydney in the Cocos Islands on 9 November 1914. Emden was outgunned, as Sydney had no less than eight 152mm guns and, following a gun battle, Emden was beached and abandoned.

Karlsruhe

Karlsruhe sailed from Germany in July 1914 intending to meet and replace Dresden on the Caribbean station, following which the brand-new cruiser would represent Germany at the opening ceremony of the Panama Canal (15 August) and then at the San Francisco World Fair. All plans changed on 28 July when war was declared and her captain immediately sailed to meet the liner Kronprinz Wilhelm on 6 August where the warship transferred guns to enable the liner to begin commerce raiding, and started to receive coal in return. This was by no means complete when it was interrupted by the arrival of the British cruiser HMS Suffolk but, despite closing to within gun range that night, the British ship failed to damage Karlsruhe which escaped and reached Puerto Rico almost out of fuel. There the US authorities, in compliance with the Neutrality Laws, allowed the Germans to take on just enough coal to reach St Thomas. In the event, Karlsruhe made for the Netherlands’ island of Curacao and then set off on a very successful raiding spree, sinking sixteen ships between 18 August and late October.

Karlsruhe’s captain, Köhler, was punctilious in removing all crew from his prizes and holding them aboard another prize or one of his auxiliaries, until he could send them to a neutral port. One ship, Crefeld, took no fewer than 398 people – 223 of the Allies, 175 neutrals – and landed them at Tenerife on 22 October. He also removed coal and provisions wherever possible. Neutral ships were usually released unharmed, although several were sunk because their cargoes were British-owned. His final prize, and a good one, was the British liner Vandyck with 210 passengers all of whom, with the crew, were removed and subsequently put ashore in Brazil.

Having scuttled Van Dyck, Karlsruhe set sail for Barbados on 1 November with the aim of bombarding the British colony, as Emden had done at Penang. However, in the early evening of 4 November the ship was proceeding as normal when there was a devastating explosion which totally demolished the ship forward of the leading funnel. The remainder of the ship remained afloat for a short time but sank just before 1900.

The cause of the explosion has never been established with certainty. It could have been due to an ammunition accident; several ships were blown apart during the war due to th...